Peter Greene: What This Election Means for Schools

Peter Greene’s assessment that ESSA “throws much of the power back to the state level” is accurate as is his observation that “…U.S. Department of Education and Congress are still arguing about it, which means there is ample opportunity for states to enter that spirited discussion.” There are two points that he doesn’t make, though: FIRST: as it stands now the majority of states would be arguing for the very things Trump wants and they’d be selling their voters on it by saying that the “Federal $$$ could be used to relieve the property tax burden” and help them “get rid of bad teachers”. SECOND: Neither the Democrat party nor HRC are doing enough to give the Education Department the support it needs to buck the supplant vs. supplement provision— which is the major bone of contention. It would be wonderful if the Dems and HRC stood up for the children raised in poverty who will lose out if states can use federal $$$ to lower taxes, which IS the direction they will go if they are allowed to do so.

Peter Greene reflects here on the likely outcome of this election for the nation’s public schools, which enroll nearly 50 million children. If Trump is elected, we know what to expect: Trump’…